Rate of small children exposed to marijuana up 147.5% – study

Cases of children accidentally consuming marijuana have rapidly increased since a wave of legalization and decriminalization of marijuana in various states, with more than 75 percent of cases involving children under the age of three.

While the marijuana legalization debate has mostly surrounded the
risks and benefits of marijuana usage for adults, a study released on June 8 by Nationwide
Children’s Hospital has shown an alarming increase in the number
of small children being exposed.

THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is often found in
especially concentrated doses in marijuana confectionaries and
can cause severe effects for small children.At high doses, the
ingredient can produce serious anxiety attacks and psychosis-like
symptoms. Self-reported incidents of nearly 2,000 children
ingesting marijuana were analyzed using data from the National
Poison Data System, a clearing house for self-reported incidents.
The study was published online on Tuesday in the medical journal
Clinical Pediatrics.

The study found that marijuana exposure among children under the
age of five rose by 147.5 percent between 2006 and 2013, when 11
states legalized marijuana. In states where medical marijuana was
legalized before 2000, the rates increased by 610 percent.

"The high percentage of ingestions may be related to the
popularity of marijuana brownies, cookies and other foods," said
Henry Spiller, a co-author of the study, who is a toxicologist,
and director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide
Children's Hospital. "Very young children explore their
environments by putting items in their mouths, and foods such as
brownies and cookies are attractive."

More than 18 percent of children who were exposed were
hospitalized. The study found that while most exposures resulted
in minor clinical effects, some children went into a coma or
suffered from decreased breathing, or seizures.

The study’s authors say that while the number of children exposed
was relatively low, the rapid increase is a cause for legitimate
concern.

"Any state considering marijuana legalization needs to include
child protections in its laws from the very beginning," Dr Gary
Smith, the senior author of the study and director of the Center
for Inquiry Research said. "Child safety must be part of the
discussion when a state is considering legalization of
marijuana."

Researchers recommend that the same measures used to protect
children from medicines and dangerous household chemicals should
be required for marijuana, which is commercially available. These
should included child-resistant packaging and wrapping that is
not transparent.

The study was conducted by researchers at the Center for Injury
Research and Policy and the Central Ohio Poison Center at
Nationwide Children's Hospital.

In the United States, the legal status of cannabis depends on
state law. Colorado and Washington became the first two states to
legalize marijuana in 2012. Oregon and Alaska followed suit in
2014, with the District of Columbia legalizing through a ballot
measure in 2015. The substance has been decriminalized for
recreational use or legalized for medical use in 30 other states.